


five after midnight, the darker the better

by babychocolat



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: F/M, Reader-Insert, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:13:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27670514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babychocolat/pseuds/babychocolat
Summary: The truest summer romances belong to everyone but you, but you don’t know that yet.
Relationships: Jeon Wonwoo/Reader
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	1. first midnight

i.

Warm summer night, mid-July. It was even warmer in the tiny snack bar where you worked, serving the rich folk at the drive-in theater with their burgers, fries, and ice-cold soda. You were sweating in your uniform but you smile because they all say you were pretty when you smiled and pretty earns you tips. And the more tips you got, the sooner you’d be out here.

A Cadillac pulls up at your window, and by god, if there was ever a face you’d stay for in this god-forsaken town. He looks exasperated for some reason but then he turns to you, catches you staring. 

You knew him. Everyone did. Jeon Wonwoo. And you would remember the first smile he gave you for years to come, even as his snobby sister and her equally snobby friends broke the spell, barking their orders like you were stupid. 

Something inside of you hoped Wonwoo would come to your rescue, but that quickly died as their car drove off to find a decent viewing spot. 

Then the picture starts playing and once again you’re reminded why you were putting up with a thankless job with terrible people. _That’s going to be me someday,_ you tell yourself the further you get immersed in the story on the screen. _Hollywood, wait for me._

A knock on the window brings you back to reality. “What can I-- oh, it’s you.” You didn’t mean to come off rude, but Wonwoo’s unexpected arrival really knocked you off-center.

At least he looked amused rather than offended. “Yes, it’s me, I’m sorry if you’re disappointed.” He moves closer and if you weren’t rattled then, you were now. “And I’m also sorry about my sister.” Wonwoo goes on to explain on her behalf, most of it flying over your head because wow, he had really nice lips..

“-- so I hope I can make it up to you..?” Wonwoo paused, looking at you expectantly. You blink dumbly before realizing that he was waiting for you to give him your name, so you do. 

His eyes light up with familiarity. “Ah, of course. My mother knows your mother.” Of course, his mother would know yours. Your mother was probably the only seamstress in this place and his mother was a prized client. You say nothing though and keep a polite smile. 

“So I was saying,” Wonwoo said, tugging on his shirt collar. Was he nervous? No, maybe it was just really warm. “I was hoping I could make it up to you.”

“T-The tip jar is over there,” you tell him. He laughs and you instantly decide you like the sound way too much. 

“What I mean to say is,” Wonwoo tries again. “Can I at least drive you home? To make up for the trouble? What time do you get off?”

You must’ve looked stupid, like a fish out of water sputtering for air. Surely he didn’t mean that... “At midnight, b-but your sister--”

But Wonwoo was prepared. “I’ll drive her home then come by again for you.”

Refusing would be the smart thing to do. It would have saved you a world of trouble, you’d later realize. But it wasn’t a night of rational choices. So you accept, and Wonwoo walks away from the snack bar with a slight spring to his step.

You forget about the pictures on the screen after that. There was only the undercurrent of electricity in your veins and images of a midnight drive with Wonwoo. Granted it was only a twenty minute drive from here to where you lived but you allow yourself the small indulgence. 

As the clock ticks closer to midnight, cold worry begins to settle heavy in your stomach. What if he doesn’t come? Rich people came and went as they pleased with little regard for people like her; what if Wonwoo was no different? You close the shop with downcast eyes and trembling hands, mentally preparing yourself for the long walk home. 

Which is why as you step out, the sight of a familiar Cadillac surprises you, and so does the familiar figure standing casually beside it. No one had any business looking that good after a long day but Jeon Wonwoo didn’t seem to get that memo.

His face lights up when he sees you and he almost drops the keys he was twirling. He recovers quickly, “Ready to go?”

“I didn’t think you’d come.” Apart from your name that was the most honest thing you said to him that night. 

He shrugs as if to say, _I’m here anyway_. 

You getting in his car and letting him drive you home would be the start of something beautiful, you think. 

And often beautiful and catastrophic were one and the same. You wish you knew that back then.


	2. tomorrow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> you, wonwoo, and the longest car ride home that was over too soon.

ii.

“Can we turn on the radio?” Your voice sounds higher than usual and you chalk it up to nerves. Being alone in a car with Jeon Wonwoo, who wouldn’t be nervous? 

He turns to you with an apologetic smile. “Sorry, it’s busted. I guess you’ll have to talk to me if you can’t stand the silence.”

You sink slightly in the plush leather seat. What on earth would you talk about with this person? 

Maybe he sensed your hesitation, but you were thankful he spoke first. “Why work the drive-in, of all places?” 

“I get to see all the motion pictures,” you answer. Belatedly you realize how shallow that must have sounded, but Wonwoo just nodded in understanding. 

“I see pictures all the time. I usually write about them in the campus paper.” Right, Wonwoo was on break from university where he was majoring in Journalism. You overheard his mother and yours talk about it at the shop; she didn’t seem too happy about this particular pursuit of his. They wanted to keep the business in the family after all. 

“What do you like about seeing pictures?” The question throws you off a little. Nobody ever asks you that. Not that you had that many friends to talk to about these things anyway. 

A careful pause. “I want to be an actress someday. In Hollywood.” Your own honesty catches you by surprise. It’s something you’ve never said out loud to anyone because your fear of ridicule was almost as big as the dream itself. You wonder why, despite the nerves, it was so easy to speak your mind around him--

_ Because you’ll never see him again _ , you tell yourself. Once he drops you off, he won’t owe you anything. Wonwoo will go back to his life in his estate on the better side of town and you will return to the mind-numbing dreariness of yours. 

Tomorrow, Wonwoo will be a stranger. There was nothing to lose. 

Wonwoo’s gaze falls on you a little too long to be casual. “I see it happening.” Even in the darkness, you don’t miss the sincerity of his smile-- and you can’t help but smile back.  _ Take it, just for tonight. _

The car pulls up to your street and you’ve never dreaded coming home as much as you did in that moment. Not even that time the principal sent you home for the day with a letter to your parents the day you punched a boy in the face. But you realize you weren’t afraid of being seen with him. 

You just simply didn’t want this night with him to be over. 

Reluctantly you point to your house, the small, unremarkable space you call home, and he pulls over. But when the car stops, neither of you make a move. 

Until Wonwoo closes his eyes, almost as if steeling himself. “Well,” he begins.

You glance at the windows of your house, noticing the living room light open. Your pops must have stayed up to wait for you. You turn back to Wonwoo. “This is me,” you say as you unbuckle your seatbelt and gather your things. “Thank you for the ride home. Even if you didn’t have to.”

He gives an enigmatic smile. “I would have regretted it if I didn’t.” 

_ He was being nice.  _ You swallow, but it felt like bitter medicine more than anything. “Good night, Wonwoo.”

You open the door and step out into the sidewalk, your legs feeling like they didn’t belong to your body. You start taking shaky but determined steps to your front door when you hear a car door slamming and footsteps chasing after you. You turn, surprised to see Wonwoo. 

“Did I leave something in the car or--”

“Tomorrow.” Once again, he catches you off guard. 

“What’s tomorrow?” 

He licks his lip nervously, running a hand through his hair. Why was he nervous? “I’d like to see you again tomorrow."

No, there wasn’t supposed to be a tomorrow for you and him. 

But the way Wonwoo looked when you said ‘yes’, you’d think you’d given him everything even when you absolutely had none. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I wish I had better notes for this but I'm really just re-uploading from Twitter because I made major edits and redoing the whole thing there seems like a waste haha)

**Author's Note:**

> Started working on this at the peak of Home;run era when we were gifted with vintage SVT. Mostly on impulse so not a lot of research went into this so possibly a lot of inaccuracies with the old Hollywood aspect of it. 
> 
> Title is from Lana del Rey's poem, Quiet Waiter Blue Forever.


End file.
